With many people out of town skiing it’s been comparatively quiet in Brussels town itself. A lot happened actually outside of Brussels. Trade pros even got time to write #TradeValentines poems. EU and US join Japan in plans to take China to WTO over tech protectionism A new …

The European Economic and Social Council almost unanimously adopted a resolution yesterday calling on the EU to step up its efforts to give greater weight to labour and environment chapters – known as TSD chapters – in its free trade agreements. This move adds to a rising number of calls on …

In Brussels, there is a lot of movement behind the scenes to try and finalise trade agreements with Mexico, Mercosur and Japan. Investment screening is climbing the policy priority list. The EU lost a case in the World Trade Organization against Indonesia over dumping duties it applies against palm …

Member states have started discussing the way forward for Asian free trade agreements awaiting finalisation and/or ratification in the coming weeks or months. In short: it’s complicated. The first step is to find a way to finalise the EU Singapore agreement concluded in 2014, and its ratification process. This …

The Commission has been following up on the May 2017 Court of Justice of the EU’s Opinion 2/15 regarding the division of competences between the EU and the member states of different aspects of the EU Singapore free trade agreement concluded in 2014. This process could delay the ratification …

There’s been a frenzy of EU trade related activity this week. It looks like it’s a big rush before the summer lull. Here a curation of what we found interesting. EU and WTO round-up The EU is pressing its fellow WTO members on fisheries subsidies ahead of the Buenos Aires …

In this Borderlex ‘In Depth’ report, Nikos Lavranos explains in detail the key conclusions of Opinion 2/15 of the CJEU on the status of the 2014 EU Singapore Free Trade Agreement under the EU’s division of competences under EU law released on 16 May 2017. Nikos Lavranos is Guest Professor …

The long-awaited ruling of the Court of Justice of the EU on the division of competences between Brussels and the member states on the content of the 2013/2014 free trade agreement with Singapore settles many perpetual power tussles between Brussels and the capitals on a variety of trade-related topics. The …

The European Union wants to seize the opportunity that international circumstances are giving it to move up ASEAN’s priority list in international trade. But the EU could be held back by its own foreign policy goals, and the European Parliament, which both insist on democracy promotion and human rights. …